Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Libertine Seguros]

'Diggins finding something special in the last 50m like she always seems to do', finishes 5th, They were giving her credit for someone elses fast finish..

That's even one of the more tame examples. Pre-heat they were extolling her virtues and why we should all cheer for her, "that mindset! That positivity!" They still haven't figured out that, in actuality, she's reliant heavily on the elite engine she has and her downhill technique, and when it comes to the actual mechanics of cross-country skiing she is just not that good in terms of efficiency, especially in Classic technique, she's just got one of the greatest aerobic abilities enabling her to compete over all distances (Patrick has only ever mentioned it specifically to reject the hypothesis, Scott and Ian have both suggested it, they are the new faces on commentary and probably haven't got the memo from Discovery yet). And they also were absolutely distraught at Ogden being eliminated and running out of gas even though we all knew it would happen because he is to sprint skiing what Lieke Klaver is to the 400m, and then we get the "Rosie Brennan... she should be ok in this heat" "yes, I hope so".

Of course, Brennan did then come 3rd, but in fairness it was a fast heat and she got the first lucky loser spot with that. I expect them to medal for certain in the Team Sprint, that's in freestyle which they are much better at, and a combo of Diggins with either Brennan or Kern (depending on the course / conditions) should be formidable for anybody bar possibly Sweden.

 

[BullsFan22]

Chappaz was very lucky today. In his quarterfinal that Swedish tree took out Taugbøl who fell right in front of Šimenc the Slovenian. Chappaz was behind them and simply came past on the inside. L

 

[titan31]

Shame for Taugbol and Valnes. Valnes in particular looked lik he could put it up to Klaebo.

 

[Mayomaniac]

In Russia, Nepryaeva and Ustiugov won the classic sprint. Stupak, who’s hardly raced this season due to heath, gave Nepryaeva a good fight, finishing 2nd. Behind Ustiugov were Terentjev and Bolshunov. Ustiugov looked very good.

Ustiugov beating Bolshunov is always good news to me.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Chappaz was very lucky today. In his quarterfinal that Swedish tree took out Taugbøl who fell right in front of Šimenc the Slovenian. Chappaz was behind them and simply came past on the inside. L

How that was not a DQ for the Swedish skier is beyond me, he pushed Taugbol away to create space where there wasn't any and made him crash.

 

[BullsFan22]

That's even one of the more tame examples. Pre-heat they were extolling her virtues and why we should all cheer for her, "that mindset! That positivity!" They still haven't figured out that, in actuality, she's reliant heavily on the elite engine she has and her downhill technique, and when it comes to the actual mechanics of cross-country skiing she is just not that good in terms of efficiency, especially in Classic technique, she's just got one of the greatest aerobic abilities enabling her to compete over all distances (Patrick has only ever mentioned it specifically to reject the hypothesis, Scott and Ian have both suggested it, they are the new faces on commentary and probably haven't got the memo from Discovery yet). And they also were absolutely distraught at Ogden being eliminated and running out of gas even though we all knew it would happen because he is to sprint skiing what Lieke Klaver is to the 400m, and then we get the "Rosie Brennan... she should be ok in this heat" "yes, I hope so".

Of course, Brennan did then come 3rd, but in fairness it was a fast heat and she got the first lucky loser spot with that. I expect them to medal for certain in the Team Sprint, that's in freestyle which they are much better at, and a combo of Diggins with either Brennan or Kern (depending on the course / conditions) should be formidable for anybody bar possibly Sweden.

It really depends what happens in the skiathlon. Kern will obviously sit that one out, but what about Diggins and Brennan? Knowing the ‘acumen’ of the Americans, they will race everything in Planica. The skiathlon is just a day before the team sprint. My guess is they’ll put Diggins with Kern. If they’re smart they’ll rest Diggins and race Brennan in the skiathlon.

The Swedes are gonna win, unless everyone gets Covid or an accident happens. Germans could be up in the medals but they really need Carl to be in good form. The Finns aren’t as good in skate and who knows what the Norwegians will do. Skistad and T. Weng likely racing, but Skistad doesn’t have the endurance and T. Weng’s peak came earlier in the season. In the old days, a team of Østberg and Heidi Weng would have been a strong contender for gold, but neither of them are as dangerous in sprints as they were 5-10 years ago.

Nobody else is gonna be close. The Czechs have a couple solid sprinters, but they’re just not good enough at this time. Italians will likely go with Sanfilippo.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Only 3 French men in the skiathlon tomorrow, and no Hollund is a bit of a surprise to me, but it was a coin toss between Rothe and him anyway.

 

[BullsFan22]

Only 3 French men in the skiathlon tomorrow, and no Hollund is a bit of a surprise to me, but it was a coin toss between Rothe and him anyway.

Røthe pulled out of the skiathlon at the Olympics and Holund is more durable and while this sort of course suits Røthe, Holund is IMO the better choice, but we’ll see. Honestly I think the only Norwegian that may try to push the pace in the classic portion is Golberg. The other two will wait to make a move in the skate portion and Klæbo will just sit and do nothing until the end, should a group come together.

From the ‘others,’ I can see Niskanen and Poromaa try to push the pace. The others, well, Musgrave and the French are better skaters so they’ll be looking to hang on early. Moch is better in skate, but he should be able to hang on without too many problems, unless his form is bad and/or skis not functioning optimally. Could be Halfvarsson that finally gets an individual medal at a major championship.

 

[BigCoward]

Is Hansen the biggest favourite of the games?
Had Riiber recovered or is there a chance it's interesting?
I know the mixed relay on Sunday s going to be the biggest procession in sports history, but then I thought that about the Norwegian men's biathlon relay team.

 

[BullsFan22]

Heidi Weng went home. Will not race in Planica. That’s a real blow for her and the Norwegian team. It takes them a peg down for the medal fight in the relay and she was an outsider for individual races as well. Plus last season she missed the Olympics because of Covid. This woman just can’t catch a break.

 

[BigCoward]

Heidi Weng went home. Will not race in Planica. That’s a real blow for her and the Norwegian team. It takes them a peg down for the medal fight in the relay and she was an outsider for individual races as well. Plus last season she missed the Olympics because of Covid. This woman just can’t catch a break.

And having her peak coincide with TJ and MB.
What is the reason?

 

[DonAragona]

To defend Diggins, it's not her fault the way Eurosport cover her(Historically they've provided the feed to the USA so it's naturally there is some bias).

Diggins is 3rd favourite for the skiathlon(8/1) so she won't sit that one out. I don't think she has a chance as her classic skiing has regressed over the last 18 months coupled with the warmer weather so it's much better to rest with Brennan and take the Gold on Sunday in the snow on that tough sprint course.

On another note yesterday's sprint has to have been the worst standard since Sapparo. 2 truly mediocre finals

 

[Mayomaniac]

And having her peak coincide with TJ and MB.
What is the reason?

According to her the body is just not responding how it should, so either overtraining or getting sick (the later would be cruel, given how careful to the point of being neurotic Heidi usually is).

I'm a bit surprised the Norwegians aren't starting Tønseth today. His skating has been really on point this season and his classic skiing is always great, while Roethe can be really hit and miss in classic skiing, even when he's in good shape. I guess that means he'll only do a classic leg in the relay and the 50km race.

Italy only starting 3 guys, but at the same time De Fa and Pellegrino are resting for the team sprint and the younger guys Graz and Barp are just not that good in classic skiing. Salvadori will probably have a respectable showing, since he's the one real long distance specialist on the team and I also expect Daprà to be better that Ventura, who always gets a spot on the team because he's part of the army and somehow they always get at least 2 spots...

Fun fact about the corruption/politics in the Italian skiing federation: At the 2014 Olympics the NC team didn't get any of the official tracksuits, apparently there weren't enough available. When they went to Sochi they saw all the General's wifes and children (who all got a state sponsored vacation there) running around wearing the official tracksuits. Tells you all you need to know...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

To defend Diggins, it's not her fault the way Eurosport cover her(Historically they've provided the feed to the USA so it's naturally there is some bias).

No, but the glitter and the startline antics like a Disneyland staffer forced to try to make you believe they're happy and fun to be around absolutely is her fault. And the Eurosport guys used to favour the Americans, but since the Discovery buyout it's gone from bias to doe-eyed fanboyism and a complete abandonment of all pretence to objectivity, a bit like Phil and Paul with Armstrong when they'd forget when they were supposed to be doing the international coverage, not their bits to camera for a US network. I mean, last year Patrick missed a biathlon race because it and the cross-country were coterminous, Mike covered the biathlon, and when Patrick was back, he immediately asked what disaster befell Clare Egan because it wasn't possible that she could have just had a bad day, then went on a lengthy tangent lasting most of a skiing lap about how any veterans should take inspiration from Rosie Brennan and how the whole world will see it as a positive for the sport to have the Americans be good at it.

I understand they are being rebranded to TNT in some markets soon also, which will remove the last pretence of them being an international, European-oriented channel and shed any last remaining vestiges of a need to be objective where Americans are concerned. However, while they are the major problem, I still wouldn't like Diggins without them. But she'd be somebody I didn't want to see win, whereas right now it's absolutely go-away heat.

 

[Discgear]

Heidi Weng went home. ...
This woman just can’t catch a break.

Well, 9 medalj from the Worlds including 5 golds. That's more success than many of the participating nations on an aggregate level.
It's a lot of secrecy from the team why she went home. If you read between the lines in the article on vg.no, it seems to be about mental health.

 

[search]

conditions look pretty tough for the Skiathlon. Should normally be possible to drop Klaebo, I guess

 

[Discgear]

Niskanen. You have to love him.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Okay, those loops kinda suck. The climbs are too flat for the most part.

 

[Erwin]

Central Europe + Warm weather = Finnish wax techs completely clueless.

 

[Discgear]

Swedish commentators: Hosflot Klabo, incredible ability to create speed.
Me: Hosflot Klabo, incredible ability to create speed with Skating technique in Classical style without warnings.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

That long climb with the falso piano is great. Almost everyone seems cooked except Krueger and Roethe.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Swedish commentators: Hosflot Klabo, incredible ability to create speed.
Me: Hosflot Klabo, incredible ability to create speed with Skating technique in Classical style without warnings.

It's funny isn't it. Norwegians never get any warnings or yellow cards for technique violations....
Calle blew up right at the start of the skating leg, but is recovering a bit.

 

[Discgear]

It's funny isn't it. Norwegians never get any warnings or yellow cards for technique violations....

Indeed.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Lol, Roethe gratulates Krüger while that scumbag dissapears right away.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Is Poromaa ok after that crash?